


Sing

by rox2the_anne



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell, Simon Snow & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bars and Pubs, Birthday, College, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, M/M, POV Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Roommates, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 20:12:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18818167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rox2the_anne/pseuds/rox2the_anne
Summary: It's Baz's birthday! Niall & Dev make a game of seeing how many ppl they can get to sing to him on their way home. What will happen when they run into a certain someone on the sidewalk?





	1. Chapter 1

“Crowley, Niall, no,” I shout over the thrumming beat of pop music.   
Niall ignores me and scoots the shot of tequila closer to me.   
“Absolutely not,” I tell him, “Three’s my limit.”  
“It’s your birthday,” he says as if that’s all the explanation he needs to give, “Drink.”  
I do.   
I take the shot and wince as the alcohol burns its way down my throat, all the way to my stomach. I really should have eaten more at dinner.   
Dev rejoins us, setting a pint in front of me.   
“Don’t say I never got you anything,” he says with a smirk. He holds his own drink up to mine. I clink the heavy glass against his and he slurs, “To you, mate.”  
I watch him nearly drain his pilsner then take a sip of mine. My head is swimming already, I’m not quite sure I should finish this. Suddenly, the concern of how exactly we’re going to get back to the dorms enters my mind, but I forget it just as quickly when Niall turns to me and asks, “Isn’t that Penelope Bunce? Why is she here?”  
 _Because I invited her,_ I think. Dev and I were talking about coming here to celebrate in class and I invited her because she was in earshot and it would have been rude not to. Also, because… My heart skips a beat and my head snaps in the direction of the front entrance. Surely, if Bunce is here, Snow is sure to follow. He’s been following her around like a lost puppy for years. Why stop now?  
I watch the door for a few moments, but he doesn’t show. Instead, Bunce is joined by Agatha Wellbelove. She catches my eye and gives me a small wave. I frown and turn back to my drink. Niall orders another round of shots and I take this one with no argument. Soon, he has most of the bar singing “I am Henery VIII, I am.” I finish my lager and join in.   
Before long, I find myself on the small dancefloor in the rear of the pub. I dance with Niall, I dance with Wellbelove, I even dance with Bunce. It’s actually fun. We’re all laughing and singing and dancing and I’m not thinking about Simon Snow at all.   
As soon as I realize that I am indeed thinking about him by thinking about not thinking about him, I can’t get him out of my head, and I realize two things. One: I am more drunk than I’ve ever been and Two: I wish Snow were here. I wish I could dance with him too. Just for tonight at least. Just this once.   
I don’t feel much like dancing with my present company anymore, so I find my way back to the bar in search of Niall and Dev, but they aren’t there. When I tell the bartender, I’d like to tab out, he informs me that it’s been taken care of. Good lads.  
I work my way back through the crowded dance floor and find my friends dancing together. I tap Dev on the shoulder.   
“I’m going to take off,” I say.   
He looks to Niall, who gives him a small nod.  
“We’ll join you,” he says, slinging an arm around my shoulders.   
As soon as I step outside, I’m hit with a shock of cold air. It’s nice to be able to breathe properly, but the cold seeps into my bones quickly.   
“Shall I call for an uber?” I ask. I drove us all here in my car, but I’ll be damned if I let any of us drive it back in our current state. I’m so pissed I can barely walk in a straight line, and I know for a fact both Dev and Niall drank more than I.  
“Nah, I hate riding in backs of cars,” Dev admits, “Makes me sick.”  
“Let’s just walk then,” Niall says with a shrug, “S’not that far.”  
Actually, it’s about ten blocks which is far to me. Not to mention, it’s fucking freezing out, but I don’t want to be a wet blanket, so I’ll suck it up. Tequila seems to make me quite agreeable. I make a mental note not to drink it in the future.   
We start walking in the direction of our dorms, hands in our pockets, huddled together for warmth. The wind picks up a bit making it even colder and I groan. My teeth are chattering when I beg Dev to just call for a car already.   
“No way. I’m going to be sick soon just from walking,” he tells me. Niall and I both take a step back from him.   
“I know what will keep us warm,” Niall says with a cheeky grin.  
“No,” I say. I know where this is going.   
“Singing,” he continues, ignoring my protest and shaking my shoulders. I laugh and shove him off.   
“No more Henery VIII,” I whine.   
“No, not that,” Niall chuckles. He then breaks out into a very off-key verse of “Happy Birthday”. Dev joins him and soon, a cluster of girls who just walked out of a restaurant, start giggling and sing to me as well.   
Niall likes this very much, and he decides to make a game out of seeing how many strangers he can get to serenade me on our way home. I have to admit, it’s entertaining, and laughing is helping keep the chill at bay.   
We’re standing with our fifth group of singing strangers, a middle-aged couple and their dogs, when I see someone else walking towards us in the corner of my eye. I know who it is before I even look at him full on. I know that walk, I know that little toss of his head to get the hair out of his eyes.   
“Simon Snow, get over here, mate,” Niall bellows. Snow’s head turns in our direction and Niall waves him over. _Oh, Crowley, why?_  
Snow looks apprehensive, but he walks over to us anyway. Before he can say anything, Dev pats him on the back then hooks a hand on his shoulder. Jealousy strikes me right in the gut; not because I think that Dev is into Snow or anything, but because I wish I could touch him so casually.   
“It’s Baz’s birthday,” Dev tells him.   
“So I’ve been told,” Snow says a bit curtly. He turns his attention to me, and I go still. “Happy birthday, Baz.” Something in the way he says my name makes a knot form in my throat. I swallow it down and nod at him.   
“We’re seeing how many people we can get to sing him Happy Birthday before we reach the dorms,” Dev explains. Snow’s eyebrows shoot up as he realizes what my friends want from him.   
“I doubt Baz wants me to sing to him,” he says, carefully avoiding my eye.   
“Of course, I do,” I say. _Where did that come from?_ Snow looks at me now and blushes. _Blushes?_  
He holds my gaze and gives me a small nod, lips parting a bit. It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. He stands up straighter, squares his shoulders, pushes out his jaw and takes a step towards me. It’s a whole production. Just like everything he does. I don’t roll my eyes like I normally would though. I just watch.   
He clears his throat and begins to sing. He steps even closer to me with each line of the song. Now I can only see him, and it’s as if we’re all alone on the street. As he says, “Happy Birthday dear, Basil,” he reaches up to touch my cheek softly with his warm hand. “Happy birthday to you.”  
He smiles, but I don’t smile back. I’m pretty sure my heart isn’t beating anymore. Am I dead? He finally killed me, didn’t he? And on my birthday too.  
Snow removes his hand and I almost whimper at the loss. He turns around and says something about going to walk the girls home to Niall and Dev, then he leaves. He doesn’t even look back at me. He may as well have set me on fire and left me in a pile of ash.   
I watch his back until I can’t see it anymore, then I slowly turn back to my friends. They look as shocked as I feel.   
“Well,” Dev says, awkwardly, “that was…intimate.”  
“Shut up,” I say to him, then turn on Niall, “Both of you.”  
Niall looks at me with mock shock, “I didn’t even say anything,” he says. He’s trying and failing to keep a straight face and I can’t even look at him because I’m doing the same thing.   
Niall rushes over to me and pokes my cheek with his finger. I swat him away.   
“Simon Snow is so into you,” he says in the loudest whisper I’ve ever heard.   
“Why? Because he sang ‘Happy Birthday’?” I snap, “You could say the same thing about fifteen other people we’ve come across on the way home.” I start walking faster, ignoring the cat calls of my friends.   
They’re dead wrong. There’s no way that Snow could ever be interested in me. He hates me. I’ve made sure of it. I’ve been completely wretched to him every day since we became dormmates freshman year of uni. It’s been an exhausting four years.   
I finally reach the front steps of my building and storm up to the door. I fish out the key from my pocket and turn to face my mates. They’re both looking up at me expectantly. They probably want me to invite them up for a night cap, but I’m exhausted. To be honest, my head is still reeling from my unexpected and bizarre encounter with Snow, and I want to be alone with my thoughts. I’m guessing I’ll have plenty of time to think before he gets home since it seemed he was just starting his night as I was ending mine.   
“Thank you for a lovely evening, chaps,” I say, “See you,” I wave, and Niall starts to say something, but Dev presses a finger to his lips, quieting him.   
“Happy birthday, Basil,” Dev says with his whole hand now over his friend’s mouth. “Yuck,” he yells, simultaneously giving Niall a disgusted look and wiping his hand on his pants. He looks up at me with a grimace, “He licked me,” he explains.   
“Niall,” I say, getting his attention, and pinching the bridge of my nose, “don’t lick Dev.”   
Yes, I am definitely too tired for this. I turn around, push the door open and walk through. Before it shuts, I hear Niall call out, “Good luck with Snow.”


	2. Chapter 2

I slam the door to our dorm and instantly regret coming here. I should have stayed out. This room is suffocating. It’s stiflingly hot and why the hell is it so tiny? Is that some sort of test? To weed out psychos? Our beds are so close… Snow’ s fucking trackie bottoms are sticking out of the bottom of mine. How have we not killed each other yet? _Because I love him,_ I think, then I snatch his pants up and throw them on his desk.   
Nausea churns in my stomach and a pressure builds up in my chest. I rush to the bathroom and splash cool water on my face. I stay leaning over the sink and keep my eyes closed for a moment. I imagine opening them and seeing Snow standing behind me, looking at me in the mirror with lust in his eyes, or better yet, love. I open my eyes and scowl at my reflection.   
“You fucking sap,” I hiss at myself.   
I pat my face dry with a hand towel, then make my way back to my bed. I lay down and immediately, the world starts to spin. I fleetingly think that I should stand back up, but that would take much too much effort. Instead, I reach over to my nightstand for my laptop and pull it onto my chest. I’ll find something on Netflix keep my mind off of… everything.   
Why the hell did I think I wanted time to think? I need to _stop_ thinking because I sound like a bleeding idiot, even to myself, and I’m not into it.  
I decide on East of Eden because James Dean always puts me in a good mood. Before the beginning credits have even ended, the door to our room opens and Snow enters. I smack the spacebar to pause my movie and I have to blink a few times to bring myself back to reality. _Crowley, how long was that overture?_ I turn from the screen to Snow and find him looking adorable with his ears and nose all pink from the cold night air. He’s unravelling his scarf as he takes in the sight of me sprawled out on my bed with my laptop on my chest. He huffs out a small laugh and gives me a crooked grin.   
“Something amusing, Snow?” I ask.   
“You party animal,” is all he says. I scoff and sit up on my elbows. My vision blurs a little and I lay back down.   
“I partied the appropriate amount,” I tell him. “Now it’s time to rest. I have studying to do tomorrow.”  
“Always so conscientious,” Snow says in a slightly mocking tone, sitting down on his bed and pulling his boots off. He leans over a bit to look at my screen, but I move it where he can’t see what it is. Snow makes an unamused face at me, “What are we watching?” he asks, gesturing to the laptop with his chin.  
“We?” I ask. The usual bite to my voice is missing. I’m too surprised and way too drunk to fight with Snow right now.   
“Yeah, we,” he says, “I’m all awake now because I had to walk to _your_ get together to see my friends home after _you_ abandoned them,” he says. He doesn’t seem mad though. He seems to be in a pretty good mood actually; lighter somehow. “So, you owe me a movie.”  
“Why are you so happy?” I ask because I have no filter right now and because I like him like this. He usually doesn’t say more than a couple of words to me. I want to know how to keep him this way.  
Snow just looks at me and shrugs. I sigh. Typical.   
This makes him chuckle and I quirk an eyebrow up at him. I watch him as he goes to his desk and pushes the chair between our beds. He doesn’t say anything about the trackie bottoms. I doubt he even notices. Slob.   
Snow sits in the chair and I’m hit with the scent of cinnamon and a hint of cigarettes. I’ve never known him to smell like cigarettes before. It must be from the many smokers standing outside of the pub. Bitterly, I wonder if Agatha smokes. Probably not. She’s too pristine to do anything that could damage her lungs or skin. He sits back then clears his throat and gestures for me to tap the spacebar. I do.   
“East of Eden,” he reads off the screen. I turn my face towards him.  
“Have you seen it?” I ask.   
He shakes his head.  
The camera zooms in on Cal Trask and Snow leans forward, squinting.   
“Who is that? He looks familiar,” he asks. I snort and look at him once again.   
“ _That_ is James Dean. He looks like you,” I tell him.   
Snow makes a small amused sound then sits back against the chair, “Could be worse,” he says.   
“Indeed,” I agree.   
After a few awkward quiet moments of watching Cal Trask stalk the town madame, I find myself looking over at Snow _again_.  
“You didn’t come to my birthday… gathering,” I say. My voice is barely audible, and Snow takes so long to answer that I’m not sure he heard me.   
“You didn’t invite me,” he counters.   
“Right,” I say, “I invited Bunce though. Figured you’d tag along.”  
“We aren’t a package deal,” Snow rolls his eyes, but doesn’t continue.   
Then, because apparently, in addition to tequila making me soft, it also makes me chatty, I say, “You sang to me.”  
Snow raises his eyebrows at the screen then looks over to me with an un-Simon-like lofty expression.   
“You said you wanted me to,” he says simply.   
“I did,” I say, “and I did,” I add because I’m drunk and it’s important for Snow to think I’m an idiot right now. I groan at my repetitive words and my inability to explain anything to him right now. “It was nice,” I tell him, “I didn’t know you could sing.”  
Snow shrugs again, “If I had known you’d like me to sing to you, I would have done it a long time ago.”   
_Wait. What?_ Did he just say what I think he said? Did he mean it how I hope he meant it? I look at him and he smiles at me in a way I’ve never seen him smile before; not even in my fantasies. Well, maybe in my fantasies. God, he’s gorgeous. Look at that face. And he’s saying something else.   
“Ah, shit,” I say out loud.   
“Oh, God. I’m sorry,” Snow says. He looks a bit ill now.   
“No, no,” I shout, “Not like that. Not _you_ I just… I was thinking about how good you look right now, and I think I missed something nice. Did you say something nice?”  
“ _You’re_ being nice. How much did you drink, Baz?” Snow laughs.   
“Too fucking much,” I respond. I lay back on my pillow and toss my arm over my eyes. I’m so embarrassed. I can’t think straight, and I don’t think Snow and I are on the same page at all. “I need to sleep,” I say.   
“I see,” he responds, “Well, in that case, I’ll save the rest of what I was going to say for tomorrow when you’re coherent. For now,” he says, picking up my laptop and sitting on his own bed with it, “I’m going to watch your weird movie.”  
I fall asleep to the sounds of James Dean being dragged out of a bar, crying out for his mother.


	3. Chapter 3

When I wake up, I don’t open my eyes right away. Some sort of self-preservation is telling me that it will be way too bright when I do. I hear the shower running which tells me that Snow hasn’t left for the day yet. Snow. Did we… hang out… last night? I have the oddest feeling that he and I were sitting here talking last night. Being friendly even. Maybe it was a dream. I look over at his bed and see my laptop sitting precariously on the edge of his bed.   
“Or maybe not,” I gripe out loud as I get to my feet and place the computer on my desk.   
The shower squeaks to a stop then I hear sounds of Snow shuffling around. He walks into our room wearing only trackie bottoms (the same ones I threw on his desk) and he’s rubbing a towel roughly through his hair.   
“Good morning,” he says with a little smile, “I left water and asprin on your nightstand,” he tells me nodding towards them. I look over and sure enough, there they are.   
“Thank you,” I say. I pick up the pills and toss them in my mouth. After I swallow the entire glass of water, I turn back to Snow. “Did we… watch a movie together?” I ask.   
Snow throws his towel on the floor and gives me a withering expression. “Pffft, hardly,” he says. My heart sinks a little. I guess I was dreaming. “You punked out super early. I had to watch that bizarre movie all alone. I expect you to be prepared to rewatch it with me and answer all of my questions. I was so lost.”  
What is this? Did drunk Baz make a friend last night? I definitely remember seeing Snow on the way home… “You sang to me,” I say to him.   
Snow looks up at me from the drawer he’s rooting around in and chuckles. He looks away and I can practically see the gears turning in his mind as he mulls something over. He pulls a red t-shirt over his head then turns to me completely, humming all the while. It’s a tune I recognize.   
“You’re just to good to be true,” Snow sings, looking me directly in the eye, “can’t take my eyes off of you. You’d be like heaven to touch, I wanna hold you so much.”  
What is he doing? My heart is hammering in my chest and my pulse is rushing so loudly in my ears I can hardly hear his words. Snow starts slowly crossing the room towards me.  
“At long last love has arrived, and I thank God I’m alive. You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you,” he finishes and places one hand on my hip and the other on my shoulder. He starts swaying back and forth then hums again. “Badda, badda. Bah, bah da ba daddah…”  
I can’t speak. I don’t want to ruin this. Snow is touching me and I… I’m touching him back. Both of my hands are on his waist. When did I do that?  
“Oh, pretty baby,” Snow sings, bringing a hand up to my face, my face immediately sears at his touch, “Don’t let me down I pray,” I unconsciously shake my head and Snow cracks a wide smile. “Oh, pretty baby, now that I’ve found you stay. And let me love you, baby,” he brings his mouth to hover just above mine, and I can feel his breath on my lips as he finishes, “Let me love you.”  
I’m the first to break. I pull him closer to me and crush our lips together. He kisses me back and of course, he’s all tongue and hands. He never does anything half way. He’s got his fist in my hair at the nape of my neck and his other hand is pressing against my lower back, holding me flush against him. Too soon, he pulls away from me and takes a step back. He leaves his hands on me though. He looks like he’s searching for something on my face.  
I don’t know what to say except, “Why?”   
Snow furrows his brow and tilts his head. The perfect picture of confusion. “I thought it was obvious,” he says. “I’ve had a crush on you almost since I met you.”  
“That’s news to me,” I respond. “I thought you hated me.”  
Snow shrugs and smiles, “You seemed like that’s the way you wanted it.”  
“And now?” I ask, “What’s changed?”  
“It’s not what I wanted,” he says, “Too much time has passed without me telling you how I really feel. I felt like…I didn’t like that I wasn’t with you on your birthday. _Again._ So, I figured I should at least put forth some effort and see what happened, you know?” Snow lets the hand on my neck drop and I catch it. He looks to our entwined fingers, then back up to my face.   
“I didn’t like it either; that you weren’t there. I’m glad you were brave enough to try. I was intent on treating you like crap and loving you in secret until I died.” Snows eyebrows shoot up and he looks completely stunned for a moment.   
“You love me?” he asks.   
I briefly consider retracting my statement, or downplaying it at least, but I’m so tired of pretending. I’m done playing games and I’m not going to do it anymore. I trace a hand from his chin to the back of his neck and pull him closer, “Yeah, I do,” I say. Then I kiss him again.   
“I love you too, Baz’’.


End file.
